Op-Ed: Trouble enough — more child sex charges in Rochdale

Rochdale
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Just when we thought we'd seen it all with the Jimmy Savile affair, another big child sex scandal is looming on the horizon.

When the BBC isn't reporting its own sex scandals, it is covering others. This evening it revealed that no less than 9 men from the Rochdale area are to appear in court charged with the sexual exploitation of an underage girl dating back to 2005.

All the accused have been remanded on bail. The name Rochdale will of course resonate with many crime buffs and those who follow UK current affairs. If, as one suspects, the accused are all Asians and/or nominally Moslems and/or taxi drivers, there will be much heated and dishonest discussion related to both their culpability and their culture from both ends of the political spectrum.

In August, Shabir Ahmed was given a 22 year sentence in what was hoped to have been the last we heard of this sort of thing for some time. It wasn't. If grooming gangs were to be held responsible, there was also the little matter of so-called social workers who thought girls as young as 13 were making "lifestyle choices" when they had sexual relations with men three or four times their age.

The defendants in the current case have all been remanded on bail until next month when presumably more information will be released. It should be borne in mind that whatever the charges or evidence against them, these men are entitled to the presumption of innocence. Unlike Jimmy Savile.

This opinion article was written by an independent writer. The opinions and views expressed herein are those of the author and are not necessarily intended to reflect those of DigitalJournal.com